Nearly a quarter to six, Faris was shaken awake by a hit on one of his markers nearly 3 miles away from the Outpost. He rushed out to check. Just as quickly then, he rushed back inside and woke Hugo up.

  “A party is approaching from the west,” he said.

  “What party?” the Zaatsu asked, rubbing his eyes.

  “Your guests, maybe?”

  “What time is it?”

  “Five forty-five.”

  “Nope.” Hugo got up and put on his shoes. “They said six-thirty.”

  As the duo began to rush out, Faris asked, “Could they not be early?”

  The Zaatsu shook his head saying, “No. Not them.”

  “Ok. And how many were you expecting?”

  “Three.”

  “Three?!”

  Faris stopped, so did Hugo. “What?” the latter asked.

  “I can sense three dozen!”

  They woke up Neil and Gina on their way out. Vincent got up as well. He turned around and saw the quartet leaving the dormitory. He shook Marcus awake.

  “What, man?” he asked without opening his eyes.

  Vincent forcibly turned him around to face the empty beds and then said, “That…”

  “Where’d they go?”

  “I’m not sure. But something’s up.”

  They had barely sat up straight when Gina came running back in. “Everyone! Get up!” she screamed. “We have hostiles approaching!”

  Camille and Ella woke up as well. “What’s going on?” the young Mystic asked.

  “Hostiles!” Gina exclaimed. “In the vicinity! LET’S GO! LET’S GO! LET’S GO!”

  The quintet rushed outside where, just in front of the entrance, Neil, Ben, and Riley were stood looking up. Hugo and Faris were standing atop the wooden structure.

  “Everyone here?” Hugo asked.

  “Sir!” the Zeta Squad replied in unison.

  The captain looked at Marcus and asked, “What’re you wearing?”

  He shrugged. “Seemed appropriate.”

  Where everyone had put on their standard keikogi uppers, he was only wearing his white inner shirt with the cargo pants and boots.

  “Let the kid be,” Faris said. “I mean, look at me… I don’t even have the boots!”

  Hugo shook his head and got focused once again on the fast approaching hostiles. A message had already been sent to the Palace informing them of the situation. And backup had also been requested.

  Faris crouched at the edge and said, “Three dozen hostiles approaching. Keep your Ki suppressed.” He then looked at Vincent and asked, “Who knows that you’re here?”

  “What are you suggesting, nomad?” he asked with one eyebrow raised.

  Neil moved closer and with a finger in the bounty hunter’s face said, “Your hands look pretty dirty, smartass.”

  Vincent smiled. “You really are a pathetic case, aren’t you?”

  “What the hell?!” Neil grabbed him by his shirt.

  The White Bolt laughed. “Did you even try to sense their Ki, stupid? Can you even sense Ki?”

  He pushed the young Zaatsu’s hands off and looked up at Faris. “And you’re supposed to be a Mystic,” he said. “If they were with me, they’d be coming straight here. Can’t you see what they’re doing?”

  “They do feel malevolent,” Camille said looking out at the forest and sensing the approaching wizards’ Ki patterns. “But they’re not directed towards us.” Looking back at the others, she added, “Derek did say that the remnants were in this area.”

  Hugo jumped down. “Good point,” he said. “But in any case, we need to be on guard. We have to intercept them before they can do any damage.”

  Vincent moved a step away from Neil. He straightened his shirt and dusted off his trousers. “How do you intend on doing that?” he asked. “All of them reek of magic. And they’re not ordinary wizards. They’re powerful. And they have strength in numbers as well. You can’t stop them like this.”

  “You’re partially right, Vince,” said Faris. “We’ll have to be careful alright, but don’t underestimate us like that.”

  “Do you really think they are that stronger?” Gina asked.

  “I’m afraid so.” The senior Mystic too jumped down. “I had an eye on the entire forest ever since I arrived here. I had spread marker spells and special observation hues all around the place. No one passes through here without letting me know. I have felt Cults pass through all day. I felt you guys arrive as well.” Pointing out at the forest, he added, “But each and every one of these is a wizard and each is at least as strong as a Sokidu.”

  “What?! Cultist wizards are rarely ever as strong as Sokidus let alone stronger!”

  The entire squad stared at Faris wide eyed. The Zeta Squad had found themselves in a dangerous predicament.

  “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Hugo said calmly. “Let’s split up, remain calm, and tackle this situation intelligently.”

  Upon his directives, the group spread out. Ella and Gina were sent towards the north of the Outpost while Faris and Camille went south. Marcus and Neil, along with the twins, jumped a hundred and fifty feet down from the mountain and waited on the ground in the shade of trees. Hugo and Vincent remained at the entrance of the Outpost.

  Captain of the Zeta Squad stood with his eyes closed following the movement of the wizards. He was worried. Three dozen wizards, all of whom felt fairly strong, against two Zaatsu, a Mystic, a Mystic in training, and six Sokidu – it was not going to be easy. He could not cut Vincent loose either. No telling what he would do. He prayed in silence for the threat to pass.

  The wizards stopped at a mountain near where Camille and Faris were. The duo peeked.

  ‘Black cloaks,’ the Mystic thought. ‘Can’t tell which Cult they’re from… if they’re from one at all.’

  They had all donned black cloaks covering them from head to toe, but they were not hiding. They were just standing there. It was almost as if they were announcing their presence.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  Faris shook his head saying, “Do you feel that?”

  “Shit!” Camille nodded. “They’re splitting.”

  Divided into two groups the wizards began moving once again. Most of them continued on their course nearly exactly in the direction of the Outpost albeit slower than before. A smaller contingent broke out and swiftly began moving in a different direction. It felt as if they were circling around the Outpost. Camille and Faris began moving along.

  The Sokidu asked, “Do you think they’re planning on attacking from behind the Outpost?”

  “I’m not sure,” the Mystic replied. After a pause, he shook his head and whispered, “Blast it!” and picked up his pace.

  A kilometre due east of the Outpost was the Huéznar Cascades – a series of waterfalls along the Huéznar River with swimming areas, picnic spots & hiking trails. The wizards were heading straight for it.

  “There are civilians in the area,” Camille said, trying hard to keep up. “You don’t think they are going to attack, are they?”

  “I hope not,” Faris replied. “Cults on Cults is one thing, but it would be the first time in a long while if they do something like that.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Back when me and your brother started going on missions, back when we were still teenagers, 90’, 91’, that was when I last remember tailing a few rogue wizards who had decided to create unrest in civilian areas – plebeian areas. Nothing of the kind has happened since. Some were scared off by the Basilisk, and then Renekom got rid of the rest.”

  Camille looked at him wide eyed. “The Basilisk scared them off?”

  “Hmm.” He looked at her. “He was a Zaatsu, remember?” With a chuckle he added, “For a while I worked in a squad he used to lead.”

  “Woah…”

  Faris stopped atop a tree branch. Camille landed down on the ground in front and looked back up at him.

  “Alright, tell me something, Camille,” he said. “How many bad guys has your team captured?”

  “Many, actually,” she replied. “Aa, why asking?”

  “Have you faced wizards?” He adjusted his cap and dusted his t-shirt.

  “Yes.”

  “How strong?”

  “Not that strong. We mostly were after rogues. So, the wizards that we ran into even, were not that strong.”

  “Then exercise extreme caution.” He tightened his grip on the flip flops and rolled up his pants. “These folks seem to be pretty strong, and this is no drill. They will not hesitate to kill you.”

  ‘That accent,’ she thought. ‘He sounds Turkish but doesn’t look like it.’

  With a smile, the Mystic asked, “Wondering if I’m Turkish, huh?”

  Wide eyed, she stared. ‘Is he reading my thoughts?’

  “Don’t worry. I don’t read thoughts. I can just tell where your attention is directed.” After a pause, he added, “One last thing: when we confront them, I’ll take the lead and you’ll back me up, alright?”

  “Understood.”

  Sensing the wizards stopping, Camille turned around saying, “You feel that? They’re stopping.”

  Faris nodded. “Hmm… nope. Two of them are moving ahead.”

  “Yup, I got ‘em now.”

  “So, let’s skip ahead…”

  The Mystic jumped down, grabbed Camille by her arm, and extended the other hand out. A vortex appeared a few feet in front of them. He dragged her along into it and they vanished!

  Just for the next few seconds, the young Sokidu was blinded by a sea of running lights. And before she could react, they were standing beside another tree. Her head spun.

  “Shake it off,” said Faris.

  Camille shook her head and rubbed her eyes, then blinked at the scene: they had somehow arrived ahead of the wizards and were now blocking their path to the civilians.

  She stared at him. “What was that? Those lights gave me some serious spots, man.”

  “The Continuum of Sempiternity,” Faris said with a smile. “Those lights were every choice you and everyone else has ever made.”

  The Continuum was a space outside of the confines of space and time, a void from which every possible when and where were accessible. But only an extremely skilled Mystic would ever venture inside because re-entry was almost impossible. Infinite number of possibilities, each creating a separate branch universe, were all accessible from this void. Furthermore, time flowed like a river there, allowing access to every last moment within these universes.

  “Never thought I’d see the Continuum,” Camille said, still shaken up by the journey.

  Faris put a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t get any fancy ideas now, ok?” he said, still smiling. “The Continuum is not for everyone to access. Even Mystics don’t use it very often. Ain’t worth the risk getting lost in nothingness just cause you wanted to win a race!”

  Venturing outside the plane of existence was tough, but it was the re-entry that made even the strongest Mystics and Zaatsus fear the journey. The entry and exit points had to be the exact same moment in time within their respective universe. Even an infinitesimally small error in the re-entry time or missing one’s own universe and accessing a different one would both lead to dire consequences.

  “Now look sharp!” the Mystic added. “We have incoming.”

  Closing in on the tourists at the Huéznar Cascades, the wizards lit up a fire. Ignited using Ki, it grew rapidly even in the humid and damp conditions. But Camille and Faris were prepared.

  “Douse the flames!” he exclaimed. “I’ll deal with the damned wizards myself.”

  Camille moved ahead and swiftly lunged into the flames. Being a Martial Artist of that level and having an apt level of control over the fire and water elements, putting out this fire was never going to be tough for her.

  With her Ki charged, the Sokidu quickly formed a link with the flames and began charging down the Ki within. The temperatures started dropping and very soon the flames began to die. The wizards tried to move towards her but were intercepted by Faris who appeared in front of them, floating in mid-air.

  “You will go no further,” he said.

  “You have no business here, Mystic,” one of them said. “Stay out of our way or someone might get hurt.”

  “You were attacking civilians, cowards! Attack me, if you dare!”

  The wizards rushed at the Mystic with great speed, but he very easily dodged them and countered with greater speed and ferocity. They tried to defend but were no match for him.

  “NORUM-DOBAREV,” the duo chanted in unison and many of the trees around began to swerve.

  “Weaponizing trees.” Faris smiled as he shook his head. “Do you even know who you’re dealing with?”

  He raised his hands, and the spell was broken. It looked as if the trees shook themselves out of the spell. “One with nature,” he exclaimed with a grin. “That is a true Mystic!”

  Pushing himself higher, he began throwing sharp wind blades at the duo. They scampered for cover and barely survived being sliced into pieces.

  Faris gently landed on the ground. With one swift jerking motion of his arms, water rose from a stream flowing nearby and rushed at the wizards. They attempted to get out of the way but were unsuccessful. It engulfed them. Stuck inside the ball of water, they tried many a spell but could not escape.

  “Camille!” Faris called. “Engage the others approaching.”

  The seven other wizards from this group were fast approaching. But before they could get to Faris, Camille intercepted them by uprooting a large wall of ice. When they attempted to jump over the wall, she shot at them with wind blades of her own. This gave enough time for the Mystic to take care of the two trapped in the water prison.

  By now, all parties had been alerted of the battle that had begun. All the other wizards were moving closer, but so were the Martial Artists.

  Unleashing a shockwave, the wizards brought Camille’s ice wall down to find Hugo and Vincent standing along with the Sokidu. Very soon, Ella and Gina joined them as well.

  Faris then arrived too. A thread snapped taut across the minds of the Eye compatriots. He had formed a telepathic link.

  “I just searched through the minds of two of those wizards,” the Mystic explained. “They are here for you. Who did you people meet recently who might have known your whereabouts? Just speak in your heads with the intention of getting through to the rest of us. We’ll all listen.”

  “We were being followed?” Neil asked as his group joined them as well.

  “Yes. They knew you’d be around here somewhere looking for the remnants.”

  “Derek,” said Hugo as the telepathic conversation continued. “Either he sold the information to someone, or we just got played bad!”

  The rest of the wizards joined the party as well. “Which one of you is Hugo Baylis?” a witch asked.

  “What’s it to you?” Faris responded.

  “He wants to kill him…”

  In his head, Marcus asked, “Who’s ‘he’?”

  Faris widened his stance. “Alright gang, keep your guard up.” He shook his head and added, “One more inbound…”

  “I don’t sense anyone,” said Hugo.

  “You can’t.”

  “Why?”

  “It’s not a wizard.”

  “Then who?”

  “An Alchemist…”